279 June's Fealty
“Will you be returning to your chambers, Lord Asher?” Neta asked, once Asher stood up.
He was prepared to follow the lord once more or be told to return to his place.
“No.” Lucius replied, finding no reason to lie.
“I will be heading to the re-education center. There are some things that I’ll be checking there.”
“Let me call for your personal guards at once then, my lord. I will also prepare for your carriage immediately.” Neta bowed and quickly departed to fulfill his master’s desires.
Lucius would have been fine to have left by himself and had actually done it before but allowed Neta to do as he sought.
It didn’t take too long before Lucius left the Inanis mansion and headed for the laboratory. As he traveled through the roads, Lucius found them to be heavily patrolled by guards.
The ones that Lucius passed through, looked at the carriage of the Inanis Family in surprise. They did not probably expect to see the young lord of the Inanis House to be out at this late hour.
“Hmmm… it seems like they are more vigilant than ever since the war of recent times.” Lucius murmured to himself before he arrived at the re-education center.
Lucius didn’t intend to interact with the people of the center, but naturally, the arrival of the Young Lord of the Inanis House roused up his loyal subjects.
“Lord Asher!” Old Man Johan greeted him reverentially. “We are honored to be visited by you at this late hour and by the blessings of Etara you have returned triumphantly in battle!”
pAnDa (nov)e1 Everyone knew that Count Inanis went to war against Viscount Drew and had waited fervently for the return of the army. While the Count hadn’t returned yet to his territory, the news had already spread that they’d won.
Most of the people in the re-education center expected Lord Asher to have been recovering and resting, but were blessed by his presence instead.
“Thank you.” Lucius nodded his head and exchanged a couple more words with the old man before he excused himself.
“There is something I also needed to check now that I’ve returned.”
“Please do not let me intrude on your time any further, Lord Asher!” Old Man Johan bowed and stepped out of Lucius’ way.
It didn’t take too long for him to arrive at the laboratory, and when he arrived, he found Kiana to be present there.
“Ah, Kiana, you’re here.” Lucius remarked.
He glanced around the laboratory and saw her finishing up her cleaning.
“Asher, you’re awake now.” Kiana quickly greeted him. “Are you alright? You have slept for quite a long time, though I’m glad that you’re awake now. Have you eaten?”
“I’m alright and yes I have eaten already.” Lucius said. “You’ve left Neta with orders and he served me with some meals before I came back here.”
That’s good to hear.” Kiana smiled. “I would have waited for you to wake by myself, but I realized that it was better for me to take care of things here.”
“Indeed. You made the right call.” Lucius glanced around in satisfaction, and finally looked at June still restrained at the table.
Unlike when he had left her, she was in a much better condition than before. June’s wrist was still broken, but Kiana had cleaned her. During that time, June had gotten some adequate rest while Lucius was away and she was not as haggard as before.
“Since you told me that she was to remain restrained, I cleaned her up a little so she would be more tolerable when dealing with her.” Kiana said.
If Kiana had a choice, she wouldn’t have even touched June at all. Kiana was only willing to serve Asher and had done just that when he was paralyzed, but knew she didn’t want him to deal with the awful stench of the spy.
“What do you intend to do with her now, Asher?” Kiana asked curiously.
“G-good evening, Young Lord!” June weakly said when she realized that Asher’s eyes were on her.
She had mostly stayed silent so as to not disturb her captors, but became subservient at once.
“Indeed…” Lucius met June’s gaze and thought about his options before he turned to Kiana.
“Hmm, I have to admit that June’s gift Lingering Mark is quite useful. A rare ranked gift, you know?”
“Yes, it’s something that could be quite useful. Its applications are unique.” Kiana nodded at once.
She knew that Asher recognized useful gifts, and yet the way that Asher addressed Kiana instead of June somehow made her feel as if June wasn’t actually considered, as opposed to the gift itself.
That difference meant everything. Kiana decided to be silent and instead observe what Asher would actually do, in case her judgment was wrong. She had started to learn how to read him better, but there were instances where she might be wrong.
“Your gift is quite valuable, June.” Lucius said as he approached her at the table.
He crossed his arms over his chest.
“I doubt that it would be easy for me to find someone else with your exact gift and also have the same skills and experience to perform infiltration like you.”
“Y-yes, Young Lord!” June desperately nodded her head. It was shameless, but she took her chance. “With your grace, I can easily perform numerous infiltration tasks for you and prove myself useful to you.”
“I am aware of that fact.” Lucius agreed. “You could be quite an asset if you were to be entirely loyal to me.”
June’s chest eased up as the Young Lord said those words. She thought that she would have been disposed of after she gave him all the information that he wanted, but this changed things! She was going to be spared!
“I will serve you with my life, Young Lord!” June swore to him, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. “I swear my fealty to the Inanis Family and will prove myself worthy!”